Autism linked to brain-attacking antibodies

While more work is needed before a test can be approved, Van de Water said the study results were solid, and she is confident in their accuracy. Further down the road, a preventive therapy might be possible, she said. Such a therapy would block the antibodies in the pregnant mothers, allowing normal development of the baby.

The study represents “a great advance forward to explaining a substantial sub-set of cases of ASD,” said Cheryl Dissanayake, director of the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre at La Trobe University, near Melbourne, Australia.

Dissanayake said by email that she had been aware of the research, and considers the rhesus monkey study to give more validity to Van de Water’s work.

“My own interest in dysregulated growth (both physical and brain growth) in a subset of cases is also modeled in the rhesus monkeys,” Dissanayake said. “These really are significant findings, although as always, more research is needed. I couldn’t recommend this work strongly enough.”

Eric Courchesne, a UCSD researcher studying the neurobiology of autism, was cautious in evaluating the results. He said the study covers an important area of research, identifying molecular markers in those with autism.

Eric Courchesne, director of the UC San Diego Autism Center for Excellence.— UCSD

"The study suggests an important future study: Do mothers who already have an ASD child and these markers, have an increased risk of having another child with ASD?" Courchesne asked.

Elizabeth A. Thomas, a neuroscientist at The Scripps Research Institute, said the study results could be useful in assessing autism risk.

“These findings could have enormous potential to serve as a biomarker for disease risk in children, however, whether such a diagnostic test would have predictive value in assessing a woman’s risk of having a child with autism prior to conception, is less clear,” Thomas said. “This is because the samples were obtained from mothers of children at the time of the child’s diagnosis, not before pregnancy.”

The results make sense in light of what is already known about autism, Thomas said.

“Although autism spectrum disorders are highly heterogeneous, there is substantial evidence for maternal immune dysregulation during pregnancy and increased risk for autism, as well as other neuropsychiatric disorders, in offspring,” Thomas said. “However, exactly how maternal immune dysregulation is related to altered brain development and subsequent behavioral abnormalities is not clear.”

Identifying the seven target proteins represents “a critical advancement in the field,” Thomas said. “Because autism is known to have a strong genetic contribution, it would be important to see if any of these target proteins converge with the autism-associated genetic data that has been published in recent years.”

Elizabeth A. Thomas, a neuroscientist at The Scripps Research Institute— The Scripps Research Institute

Elizabeth A. Thomas, a neuroscientist at The Scripps Research Institute
/ The Scripps Research Institute

“Because several of the target proteins identified in this study are known to play important roles in neurodevelopment, it would be of interest to see if any of these maternal autoantibodies are associated with increased risk for other neuropsychiatric or neurodevelopmental disorders."

Monkey parallel

The studies builds on previous research by Van De Water and colleagues that found women with certain antibodies were at greater risk of having a child with autism than woman without the antibodies.